A. Field of the Invention
The field of the present invention relates generally to headset apparatuses for use with telephones. More specifically, this invention relates to such telephone headsets having an indicator means thereon for automatically indicating use of the telephone headset. Even more specifically, this invention relates to such telephone headsets having an indicator light thereon to indicate that the person wearing the headset is on the telephone.
B. Background
Many people utilize the telephone as an integral part of their work or frequently at the home. Often these people are on the phone for long periods of time, perhaps even the majority of the time during the day. For convenience, comfort and/or improved efficiency, it is common for these people to utilize a headset that has a connecting cord connected to the telephone, telephone line or telephone system. The typical telephone headsets come in two basic types. One type is the over-the-head headset that has a headband that places an earpiece near the ear and a microphone near the person's mouth. The other type is the ear wrap or jack type that utilizes an earpiece which wraps around the ear with a microphone extending therefrom to be in front of the user's mouth. As with the headband type, a connecting cord connects to the telephone, telephone line or telephone system. However, unlike the previously described headset, this type does not utilize a headband.
Telephone headsets have proven to be very popular because they reduce the weight and difficulty associated with holding a telephone handset for extended periods of time, whether the telephone is held in the hand or on the person's shoulder. Telephone headsets also allow the user some freedom of movement, compared to the standard telephone handset. Although telephone headsets provide significant advantages with regard to ease of use and comfort, they create a problem in that other people are not able to determine if the user of the headset is on a telephone call or between telephone calls unless the wearer is actually talking. When the headset user is not talking, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to determine if the user is listening to another person on the other end of the telephone line or merely waiting between telephone calls. As a result, it is not at all uncommon for someone to come up to a person wearing a telephone headset and start talking to the headset user, not realizing that he or she is actually engaged in a telephone conversation at that time. This often requires the headset user to interrupt either or both the person talking or the person on the other end of the line. Naturally, this can create problems with trying to delicately interrupt someone. Depending on the context, the interruption can present some problems with regard to confidentiality or other private matters. Even if the person who desires to talk to the headset user does not speak, and therefore does not actually interrupt, there is usually an awkward period of time that passes until the headset user indicates that he or she is either available to talk (because they are not on the telephone) or is not available.
There are some telephone indicator mechanisms currently available. Some of these mechanisms require the user to manually activate a switch or button to indicate that they are on the telephone and to switch it off when they are not. The need to manually turn on or off the indicator mechanism severely limits the usefulness of these devices. As would be expected, headset users forget to turn them on, thereby eliminating the benefit of the device, or forget to turn them off, which results in false indication of telephone use (after time, this will be ignored). There are some headset in-use devices that are intended to be automatically activated by use of the headset. Unfortunately, these headset indicator devices also have limitations which have limited the commercial success of the devices.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,791 to Krasik discloses a telephone headset on-line indicator that determines the “on-line” or “off hook” condition by monitoring the voltage potential across the two transmitting lines between the headset and the telephone base unit. A light emitting diode at the end of the microphone boom or mechanisms for lighting up the boom are provided. When the phone is “off the hook” or other in-use condition is determined, the circuitry lights up the diode or the microphone boom to indicate that the user is “on-line” and should not be disturbed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,647 to Regen, et al. discloses a headset in-use indicator that utilizes a transformer and amplifier circuit to amplify the audio signals across the transmission lines so as to determine if the telephone headset is in use or off-hook. A signal activates a light emitting diode or light emitting source at the end of the microphone boom. Placement of the light emitting diode on the end of the boom or lighting up the boom limits the ability of other persons to see the light and, therefore, to know when the user should not be disturbed.
What is needed, is an easy to use and effective means of indicating to other people when the telephone headset user is on the telephone, as opposed to just wearing the headset. The preferred headset use indicator would automatically indicate to another person when the telephone line is active so that he or she would know not to interrupt the headset user. To be effective, the indicator should clearly indicate to another that the user is on the telephone line. It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages associated with presently available headset use indicators and to provide a telephone headset indicator that indicates when the user is actually on a telephone call so that he or she will not be interrupted by others. It is also an objective of the present invention to provide a headset indicator mechanism that is automatically activated when the telephone line is active. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a telephone headset indicator that activates a clearly positioned light when the user is on the telephone.